Genentech janitor allegedly swiped computers

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A contract janitor at Genentech was arrested Feb. 7 on suspicion of stealing about 30 laptop computers, a projector and a desktop computer over the past 10 months from the South San Francisco company, police and prosecutors said Thursday.

Dionisio Dauz, 33, of San Francisco has pleaded not guilty to several theft-related charges and is out of custody on $50,000 bail, San Mateo County Chief Deputy District Attorney Karen Guidotti said.

He is due back in court April 4 for a preliminary hearing.

Dauz had been swiping computers from April 1 to Feb. 5, Guidotti said. The total loss was estimated at $30,000, she said.

The thefts were captured on surveillance video, prosecutors said.

The biotechnology company’s security team conducted its own internal investigation into the thefts before calling the South San Francisco Police Department.

Following Dauz’s arrest, three laptops and the projector were recovered, police said. Many of the stolen items are believed to have been sold on the black market or shipped out of the country.

South City police say Genentech, which employs some 11,000 people, has called cops numerous times regarding thefts, mostly because of the size of the company.

“They’re a massive company,” police Sgt. Bruce McPhillips said. “It’s typical that they have already investigated thefts through their own channels before coming to us.”

The Genentech incident comes on the heels of another contract-worker theft case from a major Bay Area company.

In November, a 21-year-old temp worker at Zynga, the San Francisco computer gaming company known for titles such as “FarmVille” and “Mafia Wars,” was busted stealing about 30 laptops from the company offices over two weeks. Keith Brown, 21, of San Ramon was caught on surveillance cameras stealing the loot, prosecutors have said.

Brown had no criminal history and thus received no jail time after pleading guilty. He received three years of supervised probation, 200 hours of community service and also must pay restitution for the computers, 11 of which were recovered.